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Rathedaung, Arakan State (Rohingya Vision) – Myanmar’s military arrested and maltreated an innocent Rohingya woman in place of her husband in Rathedaung Township yesterday.

She was arrested, beaten, humiliated, forced her sit on the ground for the whole day with her hands tied with ropes behind her back. Later in the evening, after extorting money, the military released her on the condition that she would hand over husband to the military soon.

“The village administrator, a Rakhine extremist, reported to Lieu-Col San Aung Kyaw (also a Rakhine by ethnicity), the (temporary) commander of Battalion 551 in Annauk Pyin village accusing Mr. Hamid Hussein Motiz, the husband of Mrs. Sandhu Bhanu, that he smuggles cattle to Bangladesh.

Therefore, Lieu-Col San Aung Kyaw and other military personnel raided her home early morning yesterday. Her husband was not home. So, they arrested her in place of her husband. She was taken to the village administration office.

There, she was beaten and humiliated. The military demanded Kyat 250,000 ransom from her. Since she’s unable to pay the huge of money, she was forced to sit on the floor from 9:00AM to 5:00PM with her hands tied with ropes behind her back,” said an eyewitness in the village.

“Later, her villagers raised Kyat 100,000 for her release. Hence, the military released her on conditions that she will have to pay the remaining Kyat 150,000 on September 6 and hand over her husband to the military,” he continued.

‘Anauk Pyin’ village is a small Rohingya village in Rathedaung Township. It’s surrounded by the hostile Rakhine villages from all sides. Many homes in the village were burnt down by Rakhine extremists in 2012.

The Rohingyas in the ghetto-like village don’t have access to livelihoods, healthcare and education. They are facing extreme difficulties to survive. Besides, they have to face maltreatments, tortures and persecutions in the hands of Myanmar’s armed forces and the Rakhine extremists.